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<font face="Verdana" size=2><b>September 20, 2008 at 09:54:48<br>
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<a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Angela-Davis-says-Omaha-T-by-Michael-Richardson-080920-541.html">
Angela Davis Demands 'Omaha Two' Be Freed<br><br>
</a>
<a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/Angela-Davis-says-Omaha-T-by-Michael-Richardson-080920-541.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Angela-Davis-says-Omaha-T-by-Michael-Richardson-080920-541.html<br>
<br>
</a></font><font face="Verdana" size=2><i>by
<a href="http://www.opednews.com/author/author3874.html">Michael
Richardson</a> <br><br>
</i></font><font face="Verdana" size=3><b>Angela Davis says 'Omaha Two'
are victims of 'repressive authorities" in 1971 COINTELPRO case and
should be freed<br><br>
</b></font><font face="verdana" size=2>Angela Davis, noted University of
California professor and political prisoner advocate, travelled to
Lincoln, Nebraska to tell a crowd of 300 justice, civil rights and peace
advocates that the 'Omaha Two' were victims of "repressive
authorities" and should be released from prison. Davis was
talking about Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice) who
are serving life sentences in the maximum-security Nebraska State
Penitentiary.<br>
<br>
Poindexter and Langa were convicted in 1971 for the bombing murder of
Omaha police officer Larry Minard after being implicated by the 15
year-old confessed bomber, Duane Peak. At the time, the two leaders
of Omaha's Black Panther chapter, called the Nebraska Committee to Combat
Fascism, were targets of a clandestine operation of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation code-named COINTELPRO. <br>
<br>
Years after the conviction of the two men when the secret FBI files of
COINTELPRO became available by Freedom of Information requests it was
discovered that even before the murdered policeman was buried, FBI
director J. Edgar Hoover had given the order to withhold evidence about
the unknown caller who lured Minard to his death. Hoover
wanted a case made against Poindexter and Langa regardless of what the
crime laboratory reported.<br>
<br>
Hoover's shocking command to suppress identification of Minard's killer
was recorded by FBI Crime Laboratory chief Ivan Willard
Conrad. The Omaha FBI Special-Agent-in-Charge sent a memo to
Conrad recommending an informal, unwritten lab report on the tape
recording of the fatal call. The Omaha Police wanted to identify
the caller through vocal analysis of the tape but did not want to release
results of the forensic examination to lawyers for Poindexter and
Langa. Conrad spoke with Hoover after getting the unusual request
to withhold evidence.<br>
<br>
The FBI Crime Lab chief scrawled on his copy of the Omaha memo that
Hoover approved of the request to not prepare a formal laboratory report
on the crucial tape recording. "Dir advised telephonically
& said OK to do." Conrad then initialed and dated the memo
entry just two days after the bombing.<br>
<br>
Omaha Asst. Chief of Police Glen W. Gates later had another memo sent to
Hoover by way of the Omaha FBI office asking that no use of the tape be
made because it might be "prejudicial to the police murder
trial" of Poindexter and Langa. Peak claimed he made the call
and placed the bomb under orders from Poindexter, however, the voice on
the tape was not that of a 15 year-old but rather an older man thus
leaving an unidentified accomplice on the loose and a gaping hole in the
prosecution's case against the two Panther leaders.<br>
<br>
Conrad followed Hoover's orders and kept quiet about the tape
recording. The defense was never provided the tape at trial and the
jurors that convicted Poindexter and Langa never got to hear the voice of
the actual killer. Peak received a deal from prosecutors and got
off with several years of juvenile detention while the two activists were
sentenced to life in prison. Both men deny any involvement in
Minard's death.<br>
<br>
Angela Davis is no stranger to COINTELPRO tactics against the Black
Panthers and herself was once a fugitive on the FBI 'Ten Most Wanted'
list. Serving 18 months behind bars before being acquitted of
participation in a California police-Panther shootout, Davis is
sympathetic with targets of COINTELPRO prosecutions. Davis was
cleared of her case just the year after Poindexter and Langa were
convicted and has followed the Nebraska case ever since.<br>
<br>
In 1975, Davis made a trip to Lincoln to raise money for a legal defense
fund and attended a post-conviction court hearing. In 1982, she led
a rally at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and declared, "We are
going to continue to fight until they are both free."<br>
<br>
Since 2000, Davis has made three trips to Nebraska to advocate for
release of Poindexter and Langa and told the <i>Lincoln Star </i>during a
2006 visit, "It is important for people to understand the way in
which two men could basically be framed up and kept in prison for 36
years even though they're innocent."<br>
<br>
Davis more recently told an enthusiastic audience hosted by Nebraskans
for Justice that "the revolution didn't come" and that
activists ensnared by COINTELPRO remain imprisoned for crimes they did
not commit.<br>
<br>
"Our memories aren't as strong as those of the repressive
authorities who still hold captive people of that era who fought to end
racism, overthrow capitalism and to build a better world for all of
us."<br>
<br>
Poindexter has a new trial request pending before the Nebraska Supreme
Court. Oral argument in the case is scheduled for October but no
date for a decision has been set. Poindexter is seeking a new trial
based on conflicting police testimony and withheld evidence.<br><br>
<i>Permission granted to reprint<br><br>
</i></font><font size=3> <br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=2>Michael Richardson is a freelance
writer based in Boston. Richardson writes about politics, election law,
human nutrition, ethics, and music. Richardson is also a political
consultant on ballot access.<br><br>
<br><br>
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